Fr. Andrew Stephen Damick
A Failure at Prayer: On the Publican and Pharisee
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Sunday of the Publican and the Pharisee, February 21, 2016 2 Timothy 3:10-15; Luke 18:10-14 Rev. Fr. Andrew Stephen Damick In the Name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, one God. Amen. Is it possible to be a failure at prayer? The answer is “yes,” and today we’ll talk about two failures at prayer, depicted for us in…
Fr. Andrew Stephen Damick
Do Orthodox Christians Have Jesus in Their Hearts?
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Sunday of the Canaanite Woman, February 14, 2016 II Corinthians 6:16b-18, 7:1; Matthew 15:21-28 Rev. Fr. Andrew Stephen Damick In the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, one God. Amen. “You are a temple of the living God, even as God has said: ‘I will dwell in them, and walk among them; and I will be their…
Nearly Orthodox
Not Yet Lent: Listening Season
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That quirky calendar has created a wide gap between the “western” Lent and the “eastern” Lent once again. All I can think is that my Peeps are going to be really really stale by the time I eat them. It’s a small thing and honestly, as I get older, peeps become less and less palatable. Let’s just say that if you are a confirmed Peep hater, you can feel a little bit…
Nearly Orthodox
Laundry, Liturgy and Care for the Soul
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Front loading washers have what I consider a hideous secret flaw. I noticed it a few weeks after the new washer was installed. That was a headache story on its own so I’ll spare you the details but suffice it to say that when the project was finally done it was a huge relief. I swear I could look in the direction of that new washing machine and see a beam of…
Nearly Orthodox
Words that bite, Love that heals
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“If you cannot be merciful, at least speak as though you are a sinner. If you are not a peacemaker, at least do not be a troublemaker. If you cannot be assiduous, at least in your thought be like a sluggard. If you are not victorious, do not exalt yourself over the vanquished. If you cannot close the mouth of a man who disparages his companion, at least refrain from joining him…
Fr. Andrew Stephen Damick
Is Witness More Important Than Worship?
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Today, I came across a meme image on Facebook showing a man walking out of church and featuring the following statement: Your most significant witness is how you treat others after the worship service ends. I’ve seen this sentiment before. The idea here is that, while worship is important, its true purpose is to equip or inspire believers to go out and bring Christ…
Nearly Orthodox
Lost and Found
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Some of my best thinking happens when I’m supposed to be focusing on other things, you know, like cooking or baking. Unfortunately, it leads to some of my worst cooking or baking. Last week we lost track of my husband’s laptop. He does editing and writing and film work, so it’s important I tell you that he has more than one laptop. This one is lightweight, small and compact. He uses it…
Fr. Andrew Stephen Damick
The Priesthood Is... (Anonymous Comments from Orthodox Priests)
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I recently had the idea to ask Orthodox Christian priests to give me a short sentence or two about the priesthood—something honest and anonymous. I was delighted at the responses I got, from experienced priests, from those ordained only a short time, and from those somewhere in between. Some were heartening. Some were painful. Some were paradoxical. And some were a bit humorous. Some…
Fr. Andrew Stephen Damick
Heaven in the Desert: Anthony the Great and the Longing for God
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Feast of St. Anthony the Great / Twelfth Sunday of Luke, January 17, 2016 Hebrews 13:17-21; Luke 17:12-19 Rev. Fr. Andrew Stephen Damick In the Name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, one God. Amen. In the year 270, a twenty-year-old man whose parents had recently died stood in church and heard these words from Matthew chapter 19:…
Nearly Orthodox
Skin Deep
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or, “what skin care teaches me about prayer…” Earlier this past year I went to the dermatologist finally after years of battling this tenacious affliction of rosacea. It had gotten so bad that nothing would cover it. I’d dab and pat and powder and for maybe five minutes it looked fine. The moment I left the safety of my bathroom mirror it would rise up through the patting and powdering, that…
Fr. Andrew Stephen Damick
Christianity is Not About Your Spiritual Life
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Sunday after Theophany, January 10, 2016 Ephesians 4:7-13; Matthew 4:12-17 Rev. Fr. Andrew Stephen Damick In the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, one God. Amen. “To each one of us is given the grace according to the measure of the gift of Christ.” This phrase from Paul’s epistle to the Ephesians is appointed for us to…
Fr. Andrew Stephen Damick
A Time of Beginnings: 3 Resolutions for the New Year
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Sunday before the Theophany of Christ, January 3, 2016 2 Timothy 4:5-8; Mark 1:1-8 Rev. Fr. Andrew Stephen Damick In the Name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, one God. Amen. We are now just three days into 2016—the new year. It would be tempting, of course, to say that for Orthodox Christians, this is not the “real”…
Nearly Orthodox
New Year's, Zombies, Lamentations
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I set out today to write about New Year’s Day and the blank wall it seems to offer each year. I sat and stared at that blank wall, thinking, “Well, there’s that then. Time to get on with the big bright shiny blank new year.” It’s not really blank, you know. There are variations in the paint, chips here and there, maybe a faded handprint, if I look real close. I might…
Fr. Andrew Stephen Damick
Rhyming in Scripture: Stephen and the Flight Into Egypt
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Sunday after the Nativity / Feast of St. Stephen, December 27, 2015 Acts 6:8-7:5, 47-60; Matthew 2:13-23 Rev. Fr. Andrew Stephen Damick In the Name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, one God. Amen. Christ is born! Glorify Him! On the second day after Christmas, we celebrate the holy Proto-martyr and Archdeacon Stephen, and we hear the story…
Fr. Andrew Stephen Damick
Christmas Means War
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Sunday before the Nativity, December 20, 2015 Hebrews 11:9-10, 32-40; Matthew 1:1-15 Rev. Fr. Andrew Stephen Damick In the Name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, one God. Amen. Here we are, just five days before Christmas. It’s the Sunday before. And there’s always a lot this time of year talking about the “true meaning of Christmas,” the…
Fr. Andrew Stephen Damick
You MAKE Me So Angry: How Do I Acquire the Spirit of Peace?
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Why is it that some people so easily make us mad? It seems that even some person we don’t know on the Internet can drive us crazy, stir up anger, inspire our scorn and derision, etc. Or some people can send us spiraling into anxiety, despair or depression. When this person or that does (or doesn’t do) that one thing, well, I just get……
Nearly Orthodox
Pause.
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Therefore, since a promise remains of entering His rest, let us fear lest any of you seem to have come short of it. Hebrews 4:1 I need some rest. I can tell because my eye is twitching. My eye twitches like this when I’m overly tired or overwhelmed. Last night I lay in bed and the “to do” list in my head switched on. I stared at the ceiling, eye twitching, mind…
Fr. Andrew Stephen Damick
St. Nicholas, Enemy of Demons
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Feast of Nicholas the Wonder-worker / Tenth Sunday of Luke, December 6, 2015 Hebrews 13:17-21; Luke 13:10-17 Rev. Fr. Andrew Stephen Damick In the Name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, one God. Amen. On the sixth of December we remember one of the most famous Christians in the world, Nicholas the Wonder-worker, archbishop of Myra in Lycia,…
Fr. Andrew Stephen Damick
When the "A-ha Moment" Turns into "Gotcha"
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When I was younger, especially in my twenties and early thirties, I was always looking for a sort of “skeleton key” that would explain Life, The Universe and Everything to me (or at least some specific issue), a meta-narrative that brought it all together. I’ve since learned that the only true narrative in that regard is the Gospel. Every other skeleton key–even theological ones,…
Fr. Andrew Stephen Damick
Awake, O Sleeper! Dream Logic and Spiritual Life
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Twenty-Sixth Sunday after Pentecost / Thirteenth Sunday of Luke, November 29, 2015 Ephesians 5:8-19; Luke 18:18-27 Rev. Fr. Andrew Stephen Damick In the Name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, one God. Amen. One of my favorite metaphors for spiritual conversion is to awaken from sleep. There is actually a lot about spiritual life that resembles sleeping or…
Fr. Andrew Stephen Damick
Oneness in the Church: The Key to Generosity and Good Works
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Twenty-Fifth Sunday after Pentecost / Ninth Sunday of Luke, November 22, 2015 Ephesians 4:1-7; Luke 12:16-21 Rev. Fr. Andrew Stephen Damick In the Name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, one God. Amen. Paul is in prison, and he writes to the Christians of Ephesus the beautiful words we hear today. Let’s hear them again: “I, the prisoner…
Nearly Orthodox
Comfort and the heart's condition
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Now may our Lord Jesus Christ himself, and God our Father, who loved us and gave us eternal comfort and good hope through grace, comfort your hearts and establish them in every good work and word. -2 Thessalonians 2:16 My youngest son is what you’d call “spirited.” He comes by it honestly. Whether you subscribe to nature or nurture or a combination of the two, having parents who are— at their core—…
Nearly Orthodox
Nativity: On being prepared
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First, an explanation— for the last two weeks I have pondered about a post. I made this little pact with myself when I began blogging, lo those many years ago, that I would never post just for the sake of posting. I broke that one month a long time ago while laboring under the mistaken notion that there was some secret formula to keep people reading. It was after that month of…
Fr. Andrew Stephen Damick
Christ is the Samaritan & I Am the Beaten Man
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Twenty-Fourth Sunday after Pentecost / Eighth Sunday of Luke, November 15, 2015 Ephesians 2:14-22; Luke 10:25-37 Rev. Fr. Andrew Stephen Damick In the Name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, one God. Amen. As we continue our parish meditations on serious giving as a critical element of the spiritual life, we hear today the famous Parable of the…
Nearly Orthodox
Better than Sin
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I love baked goods; that’s no secret. I love them, but I can’t live on them alone. I mean, if I were starving and all there was to eat was an endless supply of say, cupcakes, then, of course, I’ll survive. I think I dreamt that once. It was a good dream. But given the choice (and that’s the operative word here) I’ll have my brussels sprouts and my lean proteins and…
Fr. Andrew Stephen Damick
Why Does the Orthodox Parish Exist? The Rich Man, Tithing & Lazarus
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Ss. Cosmas and Damian / Fifth Sunday of Luke, November 1, 2015 I Corinthians 12:27-13:8; Luke 16:19-31 Rev. Fr. Andrew Stephen Damick In the Name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, one God. Amen. One of the things that is most important for any community is to ask the question of who they are, why they exist. This…
Fr. Andrew Stephen Damick
6 Reasons Why Tithing is Good for an Orthodox Parish
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Tithing is good for the Orthodox Christian and therefore good for the Orthodox parish. So why don’t more Orthodox Christians tithe? We know the usual reasons: We’re not used to it. Back in the old country the government paid for the church. The parish was founded on the “dues” model. Tithing is “Protestant.” Orthodox people are stingy. We just don’t have it in our…
